TIRANA, Jan. 15 – In Albania, the prosecution announced on Wednesday that there are at least 31 people, officials and former local officials, construction inspectors, architects, engineers and builders in some of the municipalities of Tirana, Farka and Kashar, or Vora Municipality, who have been arrested as part of investigations launched shortly after the November 26 earthquake, while seven more people are wanted.
The charges against them vary from ‘abuse of power,’ ‘falsification of documents’ or ‘Illegal construction.’
Investigations so far in some former municipalities of Tirana have focused on some 130 mansions and over 200 residences that have been declared uninhabitable as a result of the severe damage sustained by the 26 November earthquake.
“We have concluded in this section, for these areas, that we have succeeded in having thorough investigations that create a reasonable suspicion of the arrests made, and are in the process of further investigations that do not include only the Vora, Farka and Kashar, which have been documented and documented until now, but there is an extension to all buildings in Tirana that have been found uninhabitable,”said Tirana Prosecutor Elizabeta Imeraj.
The arrested persons can be grouped, according to prosecutor Erjon Imeraj, into three categories: “There are mainly entities that have or have had public functions in the municipalities or former municipalities of Tirana, there are entities that are subcontractors or legal and technical directors of construction firms, as well as private entities that, due to the adaptation of the old buildings of the ’90s, have carried out works mainly on the first floors of buildings ”.
The charges against them also range from those for “Misuse of office”, “Falsification of documents”, in the case of certificates issued for unfinished works, or by concealing the quality of construction materials as well as by manipulating colluding acts or other acts. related to the process of work.
Another allegation is that of “unpermitted construction”, in cases of abusive interference in existing buildings, or violations of permits.
Immediately after the earthquake, some prosecutors launched investigations into the consequences. Last month, the Durres Prosecutor’s Office signed 17 arrest warrants for builders, former local administration officials, or supervisors and investigators of works suspected of violating laws. The charges against them range from abuse of office to murder.
